Folding high chair



Aug. 21, 1945. H. HOWE FOLDING HIGH CHAIR Original Filed March 27, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENT R.

ATTORNEY Aug. 21, 1945. HOWE FOLDING HIGH CHAIR Original Filed March 27, 1941' 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORT' VIZ/k4 ATTORNEY Aug. 21, H. HOWE FOLDING HIGH CHAIR Original Filed March 27, 941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTO ATTOR-NEY bodied in an infants chair.

Patented Aug. 21, .1945

FOLDING men 01mm Harold Howe, Rowayton, Conn.

Continuation of application Serial No.. 385,395, March 27, 1941. This application June 26, 1943,

Serial No. 492,365

6 Claims. (01. 155-148) This invention relates to folding chairs. While the structure and combination of elements disclosed herein is not necessarily limited to infants chairs the invention is illustrated herein as em- This application is a continuation of a plicants co-pending application Serial No. 385,395, filed March 27, 1941.

Figure is a side View showing a modified form of tray latch; T Figure 11 is adetail View of the locking means carried on the lower section of each leg member forholding the upper and lower sections firmly together when inextended position, and prevent- An object is to provide a simple, and practical structure of the above mentioned kind.

Another object of the invention is to provide an infants chair or the like all parts of which are so interrelated to the chair seat and to each other that they may be collapsed into a minimum of space.

Another object is to provide a chair comprising a number of elements both above and below the chair seat so interrelated to each other and to the chair seat that the whole structure may be collapsed into'a compact, and readily transportable unit.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof, all as will be pointed out in the following description, and thescope of the application of which will be indicated inthe following claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a front elevational view;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation Withthe back portion partly broken away, with the foot rest member removed to better show the supporting means therefor, and with the lower sections of the respective legs folded into the upper sections so that the chair is supported on the lower ends of the upper leg sections;

Figure 3 is a side elevationpartly broken away to show the mounting means forthe back;

Figure 4 is a bottom planview;

Figure 5 i a transverse section taken on line 55, Figure 4, showing the chair in folded position; p

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the chair in folded position;

Figure .7 is a detail sectional view showing the engagement between the leg rest member and its supporting rod when the leg rest member is in parallel relation to the seat; f

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view showing the connection between the leg rest and its support rod when the leg rest is projecting downwardly with respect to the seat;

Figure 9 is a detail view of a latch means shown in Figure 3 for. securing the removable tray to the side arms of the chair;

ing accidental folding of the leg;

Figure 12 is a detail View of a spring catch for securing the overlapping ends of a foldable brace member in extended position; and

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the collapsed chair wrapped in a canvas carrier.

My structure comprises a seat *I having the back 2, side arm members 3; leg rest 28 and foot rest29, tray 5, and legs 6. The legs 6 and their braces are foldable within thearea of the chair seat and are attached to the chair seatby brackets 26 and 21 respectively, some of which also cooperate'in forming means for slidingly supporting the leg rest 28 and foot rest 29 which is pivotally'conn'ected to the leg rest at its front end, said leg'and footrest members being so devised and supported and related to the other elements of the structure that, while the leg rest portion is slidingly supported beneath the chair seat, the foot restportion thereof may be folded over the front edge of the chair seat, under the folded over'back, over which the side armmember maybe folded after the tray has been detached therefrom.

The seat j has adjacent its rear edge the upwardly projecting brackets 1 having vertical slots into which projectpins 8 extending laterally from the side edges of the back 2, permitting the back to have a limited movement vertically with respect to the seat.

On the rear of the back 2, are the hooks or latch members 9 adapted to fit over and engage with pins I 0 projecting inwardly from the side arm members 3 to maintain the back in upright position. T

The side arm members 3 are divided longitudinally into a relatively low bottom portion 3a and an upperportion 3b hinged to the bottom portion so that it may be folded inwardly. The

height of the bottom portion 3a is determined in relation to the height of the superimposed back 2 andfoolt rest 29, above the seat when these elements are folded over the seat I, the portion 3a being high enough to permit the upper portion 31) to be folded over the folded over superimposed back and foot rest, into a plane substantially par- :allel vwith seat I, without interference with the edge of back 2. r

By raising back 2 vertically a small distance 'permittedby the engagement of pins 8 in the vertical slots of the brackets l, the hook members 9 may be disengaged from the pins I on the side arm members '3 permitting the back to be folded forwardly around the line common to the lateral pins 8 as an axis, into a plane substantially parallel to the plane of seat I but overlapping the folded over foot rest member when the chair is collapsed, as will be described.

The tray 5, which may have the rail a, is adapted to fit over the arms 3 when in upright, unfolded position and to be detachably secured thereto. Tray 5 has at either side a depending flange II, shaped so that it is spaced from the under surface of the tray at its rear end formin a slideway I2 to receive the flange I3 extending laterally from the top of each side arm member 3b. The extreme rear ends of flanges I I have the recesses 14 respectively'to engage the stops I5 on the outer Sides of the side arm members 31'), by which the tray is positioned. Pivoted near one end to the tray flanges II are latch members I6, each having a recess on its lower edge to engage a pin I! carried on each side arm member 3b, thus forming a gravity lock which is self-locking when the tray is positioned on the side arms members, and which is readily disengageable by lifting the forward ends of said pivoted latch members I6 when it is desired to remove the tray.

A modified form of tray latchis shown in Fi ure 10 comprising the member I8 pivoted to the inside of the flange II depending from the tray 5, the said latch member being adapted to ride up on, and to drop behind, the stop member on the outer face of the side arm members, when the tray flanges II are slid into the slideways provided between the flange I3 and the stop member 20 on the side arm members. The latch I8 has a shoulder 2| on its lower edge intermediate its pivoted end and its free end 22 which constitutes a second shoulder or abutment. When the tray is slid into place shoulder 2I first drops behind top 20. If it is desired to position the tray still more rearwardly on the side arm members the tray may be slid still further rearwardly until stopped by the contact of the front end of the slideway I2 with the flange I3 on the side arms, and the front end of the latch members will fall behind the rear end of the stop members 20 respectively to hold the tray against forward movement relative to the side arms. There are thus two alternative positions for tray 5'. When it is desired to remove tray 5 the forward end of latch I8 is raised permitting the latch to slide forward between the side arm member flange l3 and stop member 20.

Extending laterally of the seat I, below its under. surface, is a rod 25 which may be in two axially alined parts as illustrated (Figures 2 and 4) supported between the brackets 26 which also serve to support the front legs, and intermediate bracket 21 which also serves to support leg brace members as will be described, all depending from the under side of seat I adjacent its front edge.

Insertable between the rod 25 and seat I is a leg rest member 28 having a slot extending forwardly from its rear edge, enabling said member to straddle the bracket 21. Said meinber 28 has at its front the foot rest member 29 hinged at 29a on top of cross member 29b and movable from a position normal to member 28 into a plane substantially parallel to member 28. Cross member 2917 is of a height substantially equal to the thickness of seat I so that member 29 may be folded over seat I into a plane substantially parallel to seat I. Said member 28 has at its rear end the hooks 30 (Figures 3 and 8) by which it may be hung from rod 25, as illustrated in Figure l, and in dotted lines in Figure 3, sub-- stantially at right angles to the seat I, said member 28 also has on its under surface a laterally extending slot 3| adapted to flt over and engage rod 25 (Figures' l and 7) to hold member 28 in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the seat, as shown in Figure 3 in full lines.

The legs 6 are preferably hollow channel members, having three sides in cross section, the lower section 61) having a smaller cross section than the upper section 6a and being pivoted near one end, at 40, to the upper section 6a, and foldable into the hollow channel of the upper sec tion 6a through its open side.

As illustrated herein the legs, although arranged in front and rear pairs, are each indiivdually the same. Each leg is mounted so that it may be moved from a position parallel to an edge of the chair seat, and wholly within the area of the seat, in a plan parallel to the plane of the seat, to a position such that, whether the chair is supported at its lower elevation upon. the upper leg sections, or, at its higher elevation by the fully unfolded legs, the lower ends of the leg members cover an area very much larger than the area of the seat, and each leg is arranged at an obtuse angle with respect to both the lateral and longitudinal edges of the seat.

Each leg is attached to the under surface of seat I by connection members, -or straps, 4|, pivotally connected at 42 to the upper leg section Go, for relative movement in one plane, the upper end of the connection member 4| being pivoted at 43 to a depending bracket 26, for relative movement in a plane normal to said last mentioned plane. Each leg is thus capable, as it is unfolded, of moving outwardly at an angle with respect to both the adjacent edges of the seat. This compound movement is actuated by braces 45, each pivotally connected at its lower end to the lower end of an upper leg section 6a, by a pivot 40, and pivotally secured at its upper end, at 46, to a strap 41, for movement, in one plane, the strap being pivotally mounted, at 48, to a bracket 21 for movement in a plane normalto the last mentioned plane. The brackets 21 are provided depending from the seat I adjacent its front and rear edges respectively and intermediate the side edges of the seat. Each of the braces 45 connected to the front legs respectively is connected to the front bracket 27 by a double pivotal connection as described. Similarly each of the braces 45 connected to the rear legs respectively is connected to the rear bracket 21 by a double connection as described. The brackets 21' are set respectively nearer the front and rear edges of the seat than the corresponding brackets for the front and rear legs respectively. .Each bracket 21 and its strap member 41, is also made longer than the brackets 26 and their straps M, from which respectively the legs are hung, so that pivot 46 is positioned a greater distance below the lower surface of seat I than the pivots 42 connecting the straps 4| and the upper leg sections 6a respectively. Accordingly, as braces 45 unfold, or fold, they exert two forces on the legs at an angle of to one another, rotating them on their pivotal mountings, laterally with respect to the chair seat as well as longitudinally of the chair seat, thus causing the feet of the legs, when unfolded, to cover a floor area very much larger than the area of the chairseat, but when folded, to lie within thearea of the chair seat. Since thebraces 45 for each pair of Iegs-are interconnected through pivot 6 the legs comprising each pair will move simultaneously;

Each of the upper sections 6a of the legs is provided with the bearing surfaces or feet50 formed by bending extended end portions of the channel members outwardly, into a plane substantially parallel with the plane of the seat. The bearings-50 do not interfere with the reception in upper leg section 6a of lower leg section 61) since the outwardlyturned bearing sur faces 50 are wholly outside the hollow space defined by the channel section Go. l

.In addition to the braces 45, which extend parallel to the front and rear edges respectively of the chair, and by which the compound movement of the legs is achieved, collapsible braces are provided, extending parallel to the sides of the chair, each being pivotally attached at its lower end to the upper section 6a of each leg near its lower end, by pivot 40, and being pivotally attached at its upper end, by pivot 53', to a bracket 52, positioned adjacent a lateral edge of the chair seat, intermediate the front and rear edges of the chair seat, for movement in a planeparallel to the side edges of the chair seat, These collapsible braces comprise anupper section 54a, and a lower section 541) pivotally connected together at 55. These braces, are prefer: ably made of spring steel or other similar metal having a degree of flexibility permitting each brace to bend somewhat laterally to; compensate for themovement of the legs outwardly from the side edges of the chair seat as well as in planes parallel to the .side edges ofthe chair seat.

Near the upper endof each. lower leg section 6b a springlatch 60 (Figure 11) may be provided adapted when the legs are in unfolded position to engage the lower end of one of thesides comprising the upper channel leg section 6:; thereby securing the leg sections together in extended position. As illustrated the latch is released at El, its front lip 62 being bevelled 'so that the latch moves downwardly against spring 63 until the edge 64 of the upper leg is seated in recess 6!, when the spring will urge the latch r member upwardly, locking the two leg sections together. Latch 60 slides in a slot 65 inlower leg section Eb and is held in place by spring 63 in cooperation with lug 61', making the latch removable upon removal of the spring. When. spring 63 is removed the lug 61 may be pushed out through slot 65. Pin 68 extending from both sides of the latch, keeps the latch from falling out of its slottoward the inside of ,the leg. However, I have found that no means is necessary to secure the legs together in extended position since in use theyare spread apart at a wide angle, thus resisting folding of the legs inwardly, and the pivotallyconnected ends of the respective leg sections overlap one another, as seen in Figure 11, preventing unfolding of the legs beyond a straight line position.

To lock the leg sections together with section 6b folded into section 6a a protuberance 69 may be stamped out on one of the sides of one of the leg sections, and a corresponding concavity provided in. a side of the other leg section in a position to receive the protuberance. Thus a lock is provided which is easily disengaged when It will be apparentthat variously modified collapsible leg structures may be substituted in the combination of collapsible members comprised by my invention, such, for example, as a structure in which the lower leg section may be telescoped into the upper section. l

The overlapping pivotally joined brace members 54a and 54b may be provided with means for interengagement when the said brace members are in fully opened position, to resist accidental folding of said members. As illustrated (Figures 3 and 12)brace member 54a is provided,

with a spring member the forwardend of which is adapted-to snap into an aperture or depression 16 in the face of brace member54b,

when the brace members are fully unfolded. The

spring members 15 may be readily sprung from apertures '16 when pressure is applied to the pivot 55 for folding the braces.

As illustrated in Figure l I have shown seat I capable of use as a toilet seat, with removable section having the locking arm 8| pivoted at B2 to disengageably secure the section 80 in place. Catches 83, one of which may be rotatable, are fixed to the lower surface of seat I to engage and support a removable receptacle.

A convenient means for carrying the collapsed chair is illustrated in Figure 13 showing the collapsible chair structure wrapped in a canvas carrier having a handle 9!. As illustrated in Figure 3 portionsof the side arm members may be cutout to further decrease the weight of the chair structure, or to add design effect.

' As will be apparent fromFigures 5 and 6 the various elements comprising my chair. structure are so interrelated and are arranged with respect to the seat and to each other that they maybe collapsed into a number of superimposed, substantiallyparallel planes, occupied from bottom to top respectively by, the legs, theleg rest, the seat, the foot-rest, the back; and the arms.

It will thus be seen that there has been proof the mechanical features of the above inven- 5 tion and as the art herein describedmi'ght be varied in various parts, all without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. An infants folding high chair'havinga seat, legs pivoted to brackets depending from said seat, andmovable'from extendedposition to a folded position parallel to the seat, leg rest means movable from a position of angular relation to said seat into a collapsed position between said folded legs and said seat, foot rest means when folded being spaced over said leg rest and hingedly related thereto so that when the leg rest is collapsedsaid foot rest is foldable into a plane adjacent the top of said seat, a back pivotally and slidably secured to said seat so as to be movable a short distance relatively thereto, in a vertical plane, and adapted to be moved into a folded position in which it is superimposed on said folded over foot rest, and side arm members projecting upwardly from the sides of said seat and comprising rigid portions the height of which is substantially equal to the thickness of said superimposed back and foot rest, and portions hinged to said rigid portions and foldable over said superimposed foot rest and back portion and connecting means therebetween to hold said back rest and hinged side arm member in erect position.

2. A chair structure comprising, a seat, a leg rest slidably supported by means depending from said seat and movable from a position in which it is projecting downwardly from said seat to a position substantially parallel with said seat, said leg rest means having an upwardly projecting spacing member, a foot rest hinged to said spacing member and foldable' over the top'of said seat when the leg rest is moved into parallel relation to said seat and is slid inwardly, a back pivotally and slidably secured at its lower end to the seat so as to be capable of free movement a limited distance relative to the seat in a substantially vertical plane and to be moved from said plane into a position in which it is superimposed on said folded over foot rest, side members each comprising a spacing portion secured to said seat and an upper portion hingedly connected to said spacing portion and adapted to fold inwardly into a plane substantially parallel with the seat, means on said side members engageable by said back to hold the back in upright position and legs pivotally attached to the seat by means permitting said legs to be folded into a plane below and substantially parallel to the foot rest when the latter is in its collapsed position.

3. A chair structure comprising, a'seat, a back pivotally and slidably secured at its lower end to the seat so as to be capable also of limited movement relative to the seat in a substantially vertical plane andto be moved from said plane into a plane substantially parallel with the seat, means projecting upwardly from the sides of said seat, having means thereon adapted to cooperate with means on said back rest to hold said back rest in erect position and legs pivotally attached to brackets depending from the seat, brace means for said legs attached to brackets depending'fromthe seat so that said legs are movable from a folded position parallel to the seat into a position in which their lower ends are outside of the vertical projection of the legs at their points of connection with the-seat, and leg rest means,

slidingly supported by 'means supported from some of said brackets to which said leg and brace members are attached, and movable into a plane between the folded over legs and the seat.

4. A chair structure having in combination with a seat and supporting legs pivoted to brackets depending from said seat and capable of supporting the seat and of folding into a plane parallel to said seat and spaced vertically from said seat, leg 'rest means supported from said seat and movable from a position of angular rela tion thereto into a plane intermediate said folded legs and said seat, a back pivotally and slidably related to the said seat for positioning in an upright relation thereto or in a collapsed position overlying the seat, arms projecting upwardly from opposite sides of said seat and hingedly connected to spacing means connected to said seat, connecting means between said back and said arms to hold said back and said arms in erect position, and foot rest means hingedly related to said leg rest so that it may be folded into a plane parallel to said leg rest but on the opposite side of said seat from said leg rest when said leg rest means is moved into a position under said seat and parallel to said seat.

5. In an infants folding high chair having a seat, and legs pivoted to brackets on one side of the seat and collapsible into a plane substantially parallel to said seat, a back and side members on the opposite side of the seat from said legs and pivoted respectively to the seat and to spacing foot rest means collapsible into planes intermediate said seat and said legs and said seat and said back respectively, a rod supported by brackets depending from the under side of said seat, a leg rest member supported on said rod and having foot rest means hingedly related thereto for folding into a plane removed from the plane of said leg rest by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said seat.

6. In an infants folding high chair having, a seat and legs and pivotally connected to one side of said seat, and collapsible into a plane substantially parallel with said seat, a back and side arms pivotally connected to said seat'on the opposite side thereof from said legs, collapsible respectively into planes substantially parallel to said seat, the combination of hingedly related leg and foot rest means collapsible into planes intermediate said seat, and said legs and said seat and back respectively, a pair of vertically slotted brackets projecting upwardly from the seat, said back having laterally projecting pins projecting outwardly into the slots of said brackets respectively, side arms along the lateral edges of the seat extending rearwardly of the slotted brackets, means on side arms and back respectively for disengageably securing said back to saidside arms, said back being capable, when raised vertically as permitted by the'aforesaid pin and slot connections, of being disengaged from the side members and rotated forwardly, around an axis common to said pins, into aposition overlying the seat, said side arms each comprising a low fixed portion, and an upper portion hinged to said lower portion so that it may be folded inwardly over the folded over back and into a plane substantially parallel therewith, said folded back and arm portions being related to the seat so as to provide space between themselves and the seat to receive said folded over foot rest.

HAROLD HOWE 

